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World's first test-tube sperm created
By staff writers
NEWS.com.au
July 08, 2009 02:00pm
SCIENTISTS have created the very first laboratory-grown human sperm using stem cells.
The UK researchers used stem cells from donated human embryos to grow sperm at their Newcastle laboratory.
The first ever "test-tube sperm" may help identify fertility issues, but the scientists do not believe that their creation should be used to impregnate women, the Press Association reports.
The BBC reports that the scientists extracted stem cells from a donated embryo.
After being stored in a tank of liquid nitrogen, the stem cells were heated to body temperature and put in a special chemical mixture.
Cells used to develop sperm were then extracted from the mixture. Within six weeks, the cells had grown into sperm.
The results of the experiment were published in the Stem Cells and Development journal and a video of the sperm has been released by the team.
Researcher Karim Nayernia, who led the team of scientists from Newcastle University and the NorthEast England Stem Cell Institute, said the history-making process may take five years to perfect.
"This understanding could help us develop new ways to help couples suffering infertility so they can have a child which is genetically their own," Professor Nayernia said.
"It will also allow scientists to study how cells involved in reproduction are affected by toxins, for example, why young boys with leukaemia who undergo chemotherapy can become infertile for life - and possibly lead us to a solution."
But a sperm biologist from the University of Sheffield told the BBC that he did not think the sperm were fully developed.
"The quality of the images is not of sufficiently high resolution and I would need more data," Dr Allan Pacey said.
"They are early sperm, but functional tests would be needed to know exactly what has been achieved."
World's first test-tube sperm created
By staff writers
NEWS.com.au
July 08, 2009 02:00pm
SCIENTISTS have created the very first laboratory-grown human sperm using stem cells.
The UK researchers used stem cells from donated human embryos to grow sperm at their Newcastle laboratory.
The first ever "test-tube sperm" may help identify fertility issues, but the scientists do not believe that their creation should be used to impregnate women, the Press Association reports.
The BBC reports that the scientists extracted stem cells from a donated embryo.
After being stored in a tank of liquid nitrogen, the stem cells were heated to body temperature and put in a special chemical mixture.
Cells used to develop sperm were then extracted from the mixture. Within six weeks, the cells had grown into sperm.
The results of the experiment were published in the Stem Cells and Development journal and a video of the sperm has been released by the team.
Researcher Karim Nayernia, who led the team of scientists from Newcastle University and the NorthEast England Stem Cell Institute, said the history-making process may take five years to perfect.
"This understanding could help us develop new ways to help couples suffering infertility so they can have a child which is genetically their own," Professor Nayernia said.
"It will also allow scientists to study how cells involved in reproduction are affected by toxins, for example, why young boys with leukaemia who undergo chemotherapy can become infertile for life - and possibly lead us to a solution."
But a sperm biologist from the University of Sheffield told the BBC that he did not think the sperm were fully developed.
"The quality of the images is not of sufficiently high resolution and I would need more data," Dr Allan Pacey said.
"They are early sperm, but functional tests would be needed to know exactly what has been achieved."
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